Detour Book

Flat-broke fiddle player Alexander Roth is hitching his way to L.A. in search of his runaway fiancée, Sue. He's picked up by Haskell, a swell in a nice car, who's also toting a wad o' cash. Good set up for bad things to happen. And they do.

There's no doubt that Goldsmith possessed some keen writing skills, and the second half of the book is packed with tricky fun. However, I was put off by his decision to alternate chapters between Alex and Sue. The AWOL paramour and would-be-starlet's swoonings over which man she really loves, sigh, are hand-wringingly overdramatic, and take away from intensity of Alex's tale. There's also an unintentionally hilarious Reefer Madness moment that had me rolling my eyes. Then there's the problem that the climax depends on a coincidence so implausible, it could only happen in, well, Hollywood.

Despite the missteps, the story builds to a satisfying, for me anyway, conclusion. While I don't think this book deserves the title of "noir classic," it was still a fun and fairly compelling read. And, now . . . onto the movie!